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May 16, 2008

CVS trial: Celona could appear today

PROVIDENCE -- Betty Bibeault, administrative assistant to former CVS executive Carlos Ortiz, is scheduled to return to the witness stand today.

It’s unclear who may be the government’s witness, but it could be John A.Celona, the former North Providence senator, who is in federal prison serving a sentence on corruption-related charges, although it's more likely that Celona will testify Monday.

Celona, who was transferred to the Donald W. Wyatt Federal Detention Center in Central Falls, is the trial’s key witness and he is expected to spend several days on the witness stand.

Ortiz and John R. "Jack" Kramer, another former top CVS executive, are charged with bribery, fraud and conspiracy for hiring Celona as a $1,000-a-month consultant who would use his position in the General Assembly to influence legislation favorable to the drugstore giant.

-- Journal staff writer W. Zachary Malinowski

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 6:55 AM | Permalink

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